Maleficent

Once upon a time, there was darkness throughout the land. The light did not comprehend it nor did it exist in the midst thereof. For within that darkness lived bitterness and anger, which swallowed goodness, and brought with it fear to those who desired peace. Out of true love’s kiss came the darkness.

*** May contain spoilers. Skip to the last paragraph for the summary. ***

True love’s kiss can usher a new dawn or can destroy a land.

Protector of the Moors is Maleficent, one of the greatest fairies ever to live. She swoops and soars across her domain, giving aid to those in need during a time when the light ruled the Moors.

When she was a girl, she meets Stefan, a young farm boy who wanders on the Moors to steal treasure. An embarrassing confession later, Stefan and Maleficent grow in friendship. After a time, Stefan once again steals something belonging to Maleficent, but it happens with true love’s kiss.

As the years pass and as Stefan draws closer to greed, lust and envy, Maleficent protects the land from evil invaders who want to pillage it. She confronts the human king who wants the Moors all to himself, banishes him and hails victorious over the evil tyrant. However, it does not discourage the wicked king from enacting an edict to charge any member of his court to bring back Maleficent to the castle—dead. In exchange they will receive the kingdom as a reward.

Stefan appears again to Maleficent. All the years of loneliness that had passed between them seems as yesterday to the couple, as they share a tender moment. Once Maleficent rises from a deep sleep, Stefan is gone, as are her wings. Stefan becomes king.

Maleficent’s Angelina Jolie

In the wake of her loss, Maleficent falls into darkness. Her power increases, and the seed of resentment captures her heart, left empty by the betrayal of her only love, Stefan. All the fairies bow to their new queen.

Then, King Stefan has a daughter. Maleficent, being cordial, invites herself to the christening where she bestows a gift to the princess—a curse. The little girl would grow to be sixteen at which time she will prick her finger on a spindle and fall into a deep, deep sleep, forever to remain but for true love’s kiss.

Without a doubt, Angelina Jolie is Maleficent. Beyond the incredible effects that renders her the awesome power she possesses, her subtle pose, smile and glint in her eyes conveys more than volumes of exposition. And in some respects, it makes us believe the darkness is good.

I saw the movie and I’m still torn. Jolie was great as this version of Maleficent even though other parts of the movie were rather ‘meh’. It definitely sounded like the version you would get if Maleficent was the narrator. Still, there’s something about an iconic villain being humanized that throws me off. Maleficent was always evil and a true villain, so I really couldn’t connect this version with the original throughout the entire movie.

It’s like seeing Anakin Skywalker become Vader or Lex Luthor in ” Smallville ” before he gets that nudge that makes him Superman’s arch – enemy.
A good villain almost always has a beginning where they’re ” nice “, decent, maybe even benevolent.

I actually liked Lex in ‘Smallville’ because he was really more neutral than good at most points. That was a fun evolution. Anakin was . . . strange because it felt strained. Almost like we were being forced to find his downfall terrible and it just got to a ‘got into the volcano already!’ point.

I do agree that a villain with a ‘nice’ beginning is fun to learn about, but there are a handful that work better as simply ‘evil’. At least if they’re written properly.

Ying must have a yang. A truly great detective needs an arch enemy. Sherlock Holmes needs Moriarty. The Republicans need the Democrats. Evil which is live backwards needs good as much as good needs evil. If we have a rose garden we would invent thorns. If the day is going well we look for a cloud even in the silver lining which in truth should be gold but it cost to much in today’s market.

Jack Flacco was an author and expert in the field of zombie folklore before God called him into a ministry of reconciliation. He now preaches a message of repentance and forgiveness, offering hope to those looking to improve their relationship with others through faith in Christ Jesus.